Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 157

Item Information

Title:
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide, No. 157
Description:
Grover Alexander, a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, stands on the pitcher's mound preparing to throw a baseball to home plate at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Alexander has his right foot back next to the rubber mound with his left foot forward as he gazes downward and forward.
Creator:
Mann, Leslie
Date:
1922
Format:
Photographs
Location:
Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
Collection (local):
Leslie Mann Baseball Lantern Slide Collection
Subjects:
Baseball
Baseballs
Baseball fields
Alexander, Grover Cleveland
Chicago Cubs
Pitching
Pitching--Set Position
Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16122coll10/id/171
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License (CC BY-NC-SA).
CC BY-NC-SA icon
Publisher:
Springfield College
Language:
English
Notes:
Alexander has placed his head downward but at an angle where the baserunner is still visible on first base. The purpose of this is to make sure that the lead that the baserunner is taking off of first base isn't enormous. From this set position, it would be very easy for Alexander to throw the baseball to first base in an attempt to pick off the runner. From this position, Alexander could easily throw the baseball to home plate or he could throw the ball to first base. This is why this set position can be so dangerous because the baserunner has no idea if the pitcher will attempt to pick him off or not, so he has to be careful. Most likely, this set position will lower the lead size of the baserunner, especially if Alexander consistently throws the ball to first base instead of home in an attempt to pick off the baserunner.
Grover Cleveland Alexander was born February 26, 1887, in Elba, Nebraska. He was one of thirteen children and he worked on a farm growing up. Alexander signed to a team in the Illinois Missouri League. While playing in the league, Alexander was hit in the head with a baseball, which caused serious complications for him for a few months. This would also eventually contribute to issues in his future. He was sold to the New York State League upon his return from his injury. Alexander pitched phenomenally in this league, having an ERA of only 1.85 while winning 29 games. He was bought by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1910 for 500 dollars. Alexander had arguably the greatest rookie season anyone has ever had in 1911, winning 28 games with a 2.57 ERA. He also outpitched the legend Cy Young in a complete game duel, with the Phillies winning 1-0. Alexander was known for his deadly curve. From 1912 to 1914, Alexander continued to pitch well. However, 1915-1917 were the three best years of Alexander's career, as he won the Triple Crown three consecutive times. The Triple Crown is only awarded to a player when they lead the league in Wins, strikeouts, and ERA, making it very difficult for anyone to achieve let alone in three straight seasons. Along with winning the Triple Crown, it is important to note that Alexander was pitching at the Baker Bowl, which was one of the smallest stadiums in baseball. This would give hitters the advantage especially in terms of home runs, but despite this, Alexander was still a very dominant pitcher. In 1915, the Phillies made it to the World Series against the Red Sox. Alexander pitched and won Game 1 for the Phillies, but would lose in Game 3, and the Phillies lost the series 4-1. After the 1917 season, the Phillies chose to trade Alexander to the Chicago Cubs. Alexander wasn't given up for as much as you would think, partly because the Phillies thought he might get drafted for World War I which is why they wanted to trade him. The Phillies were correct in their assumption as Alexander was actually drafted for the war. Alexander would come back from the War a completely different person and would never be the same baseball player again. Alexander lost hearing in his ear while also contracting muscle damage in his right arm. He would turn to alcoholism after returning from the war, and would also suffer from epilepsy throughout the rest of his life. Alexander was a good pitcher for the Cubs, even winning one more Triple Crown in 1920, but he was never the same phenomenal pitcher he was for years. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1926, and despite his alcoholism and other problems, Alexander was motivated by Rogers Hornsby, the player manager for the Cardinals, especially during the World Series against the Yankees. Alexander pitched and won Games 2 and 6 for the Cardinals, and came in in relief in Game 7 to close out the series for the Cardinals. Alexander would play a couple more seasons in his career. He finished with 373 wins in his career, which is tied for the third most all-time along with Christy Mathewson. The rest of Alexander's life was very painful and unproductive, as Alexander's alcoholism worsened, even ending his marriage in 1931. He continued to suffer problems from the war as well, losing his right ear due to cancer in 1947 most likely due to the pieces of sharpened fragments that got in his ear during World War 1. Alexander was never really able to get his life on track after retiring. Despite this, Alexander was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for his tremendous accomplishments, especially during the first half of his career. ‘
Leslie Mann identifies the player as Grover Alexander on Page 35 in his Fundamentals of Baseball manual.
Fair condition;
There is one crack that runs along the center of the image, but it is a small crack.
This digital image is made from two separate digital scans; one scan of the lantern slide (reflective); one scan of the image (transparecy); the two images were then combined in Photoshop to create the final image.
Lantern slide from the Leslie Mann baseball instruction course, "The Fundamentals of Baseball"
Finkel, Jan. "Pete Alexander." Society for American Baseball Research, [https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/79e6a2a7]. Accessed 23 Aug. 2018. ___Internet Archive___. [http://web.archive.org/web/20190214183842/https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/79e6a2a7].
Identifier:
LANT-BSBL-157-03
157